The BRICS group of leading developing countries, through its New Development Bank, can help African countries combat climate change without putting them into debt, Percy Morapedi Koji, Africa Economic Leadership Council co-founder and vice-president, told Sputnik on Monday.
"It is important to remember that we can always follow the same philosophy, but have our own approach. Africa and its leaders understand the importance of climate change, but we have to do it in such a manner that we are not forced to sign climate pacts that are putting us into debt … BRICS will be having its own development bank, so we are not indebted to our countries having to take loans with high amounts of pay back. So I think this is another way of creating a solution at home," Koji said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).
Every country must develop its own solutions for climate change based on "its own efforts," the vice-president of the AELC, a network for African business leaders, also said, adding that collaboration within BRICS still provides for enhanced capacity in combating this issue.
The 8th EEF is taking place on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University in the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok from September 10-13.